<inputfile> doesn't accept .pdf files - authorization required error

Question

Our organization has a Visualforce page, exposed through sites, that allows users to upload a file. When uploading .pdf files, users receive the generic authorization required error. They can, however, upload other file types without a problem. Is there any particular restriction on the uploading of .pdf files that I'm not aware of? I've checked the debug logs but there were no errors that I could see. Any help on how to troubleshoot this would be much appreciated.

Edit: The error I get when viewing the page as a logged in Salesforce user is below.

*Maximum view state size limit (135KB) exceeded. Actual view state size for this page was 156.188KB *

Answer 1

You have to clear out the body of the object after you have saved it. I am guessing you are using an Attachment object, so if your variable is named attach try this:

attach.Body = null;

This needs to be done right after you save it (I would do it in a try/catch/finally block like:

Savepoint sp = Database.setSavepoint();
try{
    insert attach;
}catch(Exception e){
    System.debug('An error occurred while saving an attachment. Exception: ' + e);
    Database.rollback(sp);
}finally{
    attach.Body = null;
}

The problem is your controller is trying to serialize the Blob of the body and it is way too large for your View State. As a novice developer, I would suggest reading up on the View State. It is really useful info to know.

Answer 2

Try uploading the file from the page inside the org as a logged in user, chances are you'll see an error message that makes a lot more sense.

Is it any PDF, or is it size related — there's maximum file size (5MB I think) so if the PDF being tested happens to be larger than that then you've probably hit the nail on the head.